Achilles Tendinopathy

July 22, 2017

Your
Achilles tendon is the tendon that joins your heel bone to your calf muscle,
which lies at the back of your lower leg. It is a common source of pain in both
active and inactive people. Achilles tendinopathy is basically a condition
where the tendon is losing it quality and usually thickens to accommodate for
this loss of quality.

The
main symptoms are pain at the tendon, with or without swelling, which usually
is worse in the morning. There may be a specific point of tenderness at the
heel bone, or the mid-point of the tendon may be painful. With activity, you may
notice that the pain get worse at the start, but it eases off as you warm up -
only to return again when you stop.

Initial
treatment is to rest – excessive loading of the tendon is likely what has
irritated it in the first place. Ice, painkillers and non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory medication may help reduce the pain. Dry needling and massage
are highly effective technique in accelerating repair of the damaged tissue,
and to take excessive loads off the tendon.

Exercises
to strengthen the Achilles tendon have been shown to be effective, specifically
eccentric exercises. Eccentric means you are strengthening the area as you
lengthen it. This increases the tensile strength and can reverse the
degeneration associated with Achilles tendon injuries, reducing pain.

In
addition to prescribing therapeutic exercises, physiotherapists will also look
at the biomechanics of your feet and lower limbs. This means looking at things
like your foot posture, how you walk, run, jump etc. which may provide clues as
to factors influencing your Achilles tendon pain. For example, if you have
‘flat feet’ we may recommend the use of orthotics, while a
weakness in your knee can lead to excessive pressure on your Achille’s Tendon

Physiotherapy
tends to have very good results for patients with Achilles tendinopathy but in
cases which aren’t improving you may benefit from other treatments like
corticosteroid injections. In most cases, this is not necessary.

Contact
one of our physiotherapists at 01 441 0100 to learn what exercises you should
be doing for your Achilles pain.